The MixTape
by WaterWings617
Summary: AU One-shot/ I've been looking everywhere for what I'm missing. Why does it always lead back to you, the only thing I ever ran from? How can I get you back? /FAX/


Hey everyone! It's been a while since I've put up anything Max Ride related, and this has been sitting on my computer since February, so I figured I'd finish it up and get it up here. The idea came to me mid-January ish, so it's set right after the holidays. I didn't actually start it til February though, and I wrote most of it in one setting, but got stuck half way through step 7. Recently I've been thinking about finishing it up and posting it, mostly just for closure, because I haven't been reading much Max stuff anymore (I'm into KH now, and if any of you can point me in the direction of some good KH stuff it'd be much appreciated. I'm super into Akuroku right now.), and so I'm kind of giving this fandom/pairing a break. I'll probably come back to it eventually, but right now I've moved on, so… we'll see what happens.

The basic idea for this was sort of another holiday theme, but with a lot of other clichéd elements added in (Mistletoe, Mix-tapes, Max and Fang having relationship issues). The goal was to take all this and spit out a semi original storyline that was as un-clichéd as possible. I don't think it came out too bad, but parts of the end are a little weird, so, try it out for yourself.

Also! The sections are titles in "steps". The idea for that is from the Doki Nabi video series (which is really adorable—it's on albinoblacksheep – go watch it.), in which each video is a 'step' in the character's relationship. I decided to try to incorporate it here, because I thought it was really cute.

Anyways, I worked pretty hard on this, so hopefully everyone likes it!

Title: The Mix-Tape

Warnings/Info: AU One-shot. Very OOC (in my opinion). Sort of sickly cute towards the end. Probably too fluffy for my own good.

Final Word Count: 4,867.

Enjoy!

_Step 1: Breakup_

The air was brisk and cold as we walked to the front of the apartment complex. I clutched my coat shut with one gloved hand and reached out the other to open the door. Heat and light flooded into the night and I was throwing a "bye" over my shoulder when I heard my name. I turned slightly, standing in the bright hallway, to face the winter night outside.

"Max… I had fun tonight," John stated softly, shivering in the cold air.

"I did too… but, I'm sorry… I'm not sure this is working. Maybe we should take a break? We can still be friends," I said softly, looking sadly out at him. He just sighed and nodded.

"I knew it was coming," he mumbled, "you haven't been yourself lately Max. Get yourself a good guy who makes you happy," he waved half heartedly and smiled sadly. "Bye Max,"

"Bye John," I whispered to his retreating figure, and shut the door behind me.

_Step 2: Memories_

I walked to my flat slowly and unlocked the door, fumbling with the key a bit as I did so. I shut the door softly behind me, since it was nearly 11 and my flat mate was probably asleep. So needless to say I was startled when I spun and saw Nudge sitting calmly on the living room couch.

"So, how'd it go?" Nudge asked me, wincing slightly when I groaned and sank down on the couch beside her, dropping my key on the table and sliding my coat and bag off my shoulders.

"I broke up with him," I stated, and Nudge frowned.

"Max, you could have anyone. Look at you, I mean, you're tall, blonde, gorgeous, smart, funny, and have just the right amount of kick butt attitude. Guys _line up_ just to get your number. You've had ten boyfriends in the past year, and have many, many more men waiting by the phone. Why can't you find anyone?" She finished hurriedly, as she saw my hand getting ready to clamp over her mouth.

"Because, they aren't _him_," I sighed and leaned back into the soft pillows of the couch. Nudge grabbed a throw pillow and, pulling her feet up onto the couch, snuggled into it.

"Tell me about him. You say it every time, and I still don't know who _he _is. I tried asking Iggy, but whatever he told me was far over dramatized and he left out many important facts. So basically, he made no sense," Nudge smiled slightly, her face taking on that look it got every time she thought about Iggy, one of my friends from high school who I was still very close with, unlike _someone_. Iggy and Nudge had been going out for a while now, almost since I had introduced them. I had met Nudge in college, and I had had Iggy over the apartment Nudge and I (still) shared while he was visiting. They had hit it off instantly. Almost reminding me of how I used to be with _him._

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you. _He _was one of my friends in highschool. My very best friend, actually. We had known each other since… well, basically since forever. We were neighbors growing up, which was probably part of the reason why we became friends. We went to the same school, and were barely ever apart," I sighed and shut my eyes, continuing. "When we started high school, we met Iggy. He brought us even closer, and we were like the tres amigos – inseparable," I opened my eyes and looked up at Nudge.

"That's not the end Max, I'm not stupid," she stated bluntly, matching my gaze head on. I frowned, and looked down at my hands in my lap.

"Obviously, I screwed everything up. It was junior year, and for whatever reason, neither of us had gotten dates to the prom. We had promised that if no one asked us, we would go together, just as friends. I don't know how true this was though, because every girl at our school was salivating over _him_. I'm not gonna lie, I thought _he _was fairly attractive as well. But, _he_ was my best friend. I didn't think of him like that, and even if I did, I didn't want to mess our friendship up. It was the best thing I ever had," I inhaled deeply, feeling the tears begin to fill my eyes, begging to escape. I wasn't going to cry, I wasn't going to- shoot. One traitorous tear slid its way down my cheek. I clamped my eyes shut to avoid any more spilling over, and continued. "Those kinds of feelings were exactly what screwed us over in the end," I gave a painful, shaky laugh, "It was after Junior Prom, and _he_ had insisted on driving me home and walking me to the door. I was laughing, telling_ him_ that this wasn't a real date, that _he_ didn't have to do stuff like this, but when we got to the door, I leaned up to kiss his cheek, sort of in thanks. Because I was thankful. I'd had a great time, and he was such a great friend, and I was just… showing an appreciation of sorts. But _he_ turned his head, and our lips met. It was, actually, my first kiss. I had never had a boyfriend, and I had no interest in getting one. I had nothing to compare this kiss to, but to me, it felt amazing. But after that night, we never spoke of it again. I didn't want to accept that _he_ might be the one for me, because we were just friends, and nothing more," I looked up at Nudge, to find her staring right back at me.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Nudge stated, looking hard at me, "You didn't know a good thing when you had it, and you're clearly a mess without it." I gave a weak smile.

"I know. But, my story isn't over yet. Don't you want to know how it ends?"

"Yeah, but seeing as you're here on this couch with me, it obviously doesn't end well. If it did, you'd be off married to this guy or something," I winced.

"True. Anyhow, senior year _he_ got a girlfriend. I'd pushed that kiss to the furthest reaches of my mind, but every time I'd see them kiss, it would come to the surface. I couldn't repress it. We were still friends, and we spent almost as much time together as we used to, but things had changed a little bit, and sometimes you could see it. Even Iggy had picked up on it, though he didn't know what had happened. Soon enough though, it was time for graduation. We made it through the ceremony, and afterward, there was a party at _his _house. Anyway, I pulled up outside his house and was about to knock to go inside, when I heard something. I was a little bit early, because I was coming to help set up, but maybe _he _had forgotten, 'cause his girlfriend was over. I still remember it perfectly…"

_[Flashback]_

"_Baby, what's wrong?" I could hear her through the oak door. My finger was hovering over the bell, wondering if I should break up the fight that was about to happen, or if I should stay and listen._

"_Nothing's wrong," he said, but it didn't sound that way. _

"_No, hun, you've been this way for weeks. It's not nothing, I know it. Just tell me baby, let me in!" She sounded angry, and I knew things were about to get ugly._

"_Nothing's wrong," he said through gritted teeth._

"_Y'know what, I'm not going to deal with this anymore. We're done, Fang, we're done," and with that, the door opened and she marched out, brushing past me without a word, her heels clicking on the sidewalk and her sleek hair swinging back and forth as she got in her car and drove away. And out of his life forever._

_I rushed inside, only to find him looking broken, sitting on the floor. I sat down next to him and wrapped my arms around his shoulders, pulling him close. He took a few shuddering breaths, and then looked up and met my eyes. _

"_I didn't love her," he stated simply, and then he kissed me._

"Now by this point, I'd had a few other boyfriends, kissed a few guys, and as soon as his lips met mine, I knew that it was different. That his kisses made me feel different. But I was still afraid. And so, I pushed him away,"

"_I can't do this," I said, pulling myself out of his embrace._

"_Max," he said, reaching out to me, but I was already partially out the door._

"_Goodbye Fang," I said, and ran out of the house, and out of his life, forever._

"And with that, I lost the best thing I'd ever had," I sighed, and flopped, defeated, back into the couch cushions. "_him_."

Nudge reached over and hugged me tentatively, but when she looked up at me I could see the gears whirling in her head. She was forming a plan. Which was something I wasn't sure I liked the sound of.

"I have a plan," she said, grinning brightly.

See, what did I tell you?

_Step 3: Planning_

Fifteen minutes later, we were back in the living room with my laptop open on the coffee table before us. I had since put on my pajamas and grabbed some blankets, seeing as with Nudge's plan in motion, we might be spending the remainder of the night in the small apartment's living room. We both had hot chocolate and ice cream, and there was a movie in the DVD player that neither of us were watching. I spooned some ice cream into my mouth and leaned over to sign onto my Facebook. The homepage popped up and I typed _his_ name into the search bar. He was still my Facebook friend, even if he was gone in real life. I quickly maneuvered onto his page. The picture showed him just as I had remembered him, if a few years older.

I heard Nudge gasp behind me.

"Damn Max, why'd you ever let that one go?" I could hear the smile in her voice and I grinned too, the light from the screen illuminating my face. I scrolled down the page a bit until I found his info. He was single, and living in… wait. He was living just a few towns over? Why hadn't he called? Or emailed? Or let me know he was back?

_Because you were the one that said goodbye. _A voice inside of me reminded me. _That's right, _I told myself, _and now I'm going to be the one to fix this mess I've made._

I slowly slid the mouse up into the text box at the top of the screen and began to type a message, then quickly hit the send button before I could chicken out.

I needed this boy back in my life.

**Hey Fang, I know it's been a while, but would you maybe feel like meeting up for coffee or something tomorrow? I've missed you.**

I sighed and sank back into the couch, feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted off my chest. Nudge had her eyes trained on the monitor, waiting for that little red bubble to pop up, telling me that Fang had answered me. Hopefully with a yes.

Ten minutes later, the telltale red bubble appeared, and we both leapt at the computer, nearly spilling our hot cocoa everywhere. My fingers touched the keys first, and I clicked on the notification box.

**Hey Max, I've missed you too. Coffee would be great, there's a nice place in the next town over from me. Want to meet there, at say, 11 tomorrow?**

A slow grin spread across my face, and for once I felt truly happy. I was seeing him again! My insides were jumping for joy. But on the outside, I just remained calm and responded to his post.

**Sounds great :) I'll see you then.**

Nudge high-fived me and I grinned again. "I knew it would work!" she whisper screamed, and I just smiled and ate my ice cream.

I was seeing him tomorrow.

_Step 4: The Mix-Tape_

At ten A.M. the next morning, I was standing in the parking garage next to my apartment building, hugging Nudge goodbye.

"It's like an hour away, and I don't know when I'll be back. Don't hang around waiting for me, okay?" She smiled at me.

"And if it gets late, I won't wait up either," she proclaimed, winking. "Have fun Max," she said, but then something behind me caught her eye. "Oh, Max, it' snowing! That's a good omen! Be careful driving though, okay?" I just grinned and nodded, stepping into my car.

"Adios! See you later!" I called, shutting the door and watching as Nudge walked back towards the stairwell. Once I was sure she was back inside, I reached over to the glove box of my car. From it I pulled a black CD case, filled with a bunch of burnt discs. Anytime Nudge asked me what they were, I would tell her something for work, which wasn't odd because I worked at a local radio station.

In reality, they were the mix-tapes Fang had made for me back in high school. He loved making mixes for people, so he'd often throw together ones for me. He didn't know, but I kept every single one. And I still had them today. I just hadn't listened to them in a while, because they brought back too many memories.

I can't believe I'd ever let him go.

Now, I slid the first disc into the player and backed out of the garage. The place we were meeting was about an hour away (we'd finalized the details this morning), so I'd probably get to listen to the entire disc.

I drove slowly out of town, bobbing my head along to my freshman memories, and watching the snow fall onto my windshield.

_Fang, _I thought, _I'm coming._

_Step 5: Coffee_

The drive was a bit longer than I'd have liked, seeing as the roads were getting increasingly snowy and I had to move slower than usual in order to avoid crashing.

_Damn Colorado winter, making me late._

Now, I was running a bit as I jumped out of my car, locked it behind me and practically dashed through the front door of the coffee shop. The bell rang as I stepped through the door, but I was too preoccupied with finding _him_ to notice. I glanced around the shop once, and spotted a black-haired head all the way in the last booth, the farthest spot from the door. I walked past all the other people talking and eating, and peeked around the side of the high-backed booth. It was him alright. I sat down across from him, and grinned.

"So, long time no see, eh?" I grinned wider at his slightly surprised face.

"Max," he started slowly, "I've missed you,"

"I've missed you too," I admit sadly, "I'm sorry I left," He just shrugged, but his eyes showed a bit of pain and sadness. Had he really missed me that much?

"Want something to drink?" he asked, "I'll go order it for you," I smiled again.

"I'd love something. How about hot cocoa?" I asked.

"Can do," he said, smirking a bit. I watched him as he walked to the counter to place an order. He still looked the same, tall, with olive skin and black hair, with dark, bottomless eyes that you could get lost in. He still had well defined muscles, but he wasn't a big meaty sort of guy. He was thin and wiry, and you could tell by the way his black t-shirt and jeans hung loosely around his frame. He was certainly good-looking, and you could tell by the way most of the girls in the shop stared at him.

_Including me, _I realized, and looked away quickly before he noticed.

He soon came back and set the drinks on the table. We both sipped at them in silence for a bit. Until I decided to ruin the peacefulness.

"So, what've you been up to recently?" I asked, slurping my cocoa. He shrugged and swallowed.

"Just been working some odd jobs. How bout you?" I shrugged as well.

"Working at a radio station in town. Nothing big," I stated, smiling slightly. We continued making idle chatter for a while, until we both finished our drinks, and I got up to get another batch. When I returned we talked more about what we'd been up to recently, and a bit about high school.

It wasn't awkward. Just friendly.

We didn't bring up either of the kisses we had shared, which part of me was grateful for, but at the same time, a different part of me wanted to bring it up. Talk it out. Let him know I wish I could do it over again, instead of running from my feelings.

We spent the whole afternoon in the booth at the back of the coffee shop, and eventually I looked up to find that it was five o' clock.

"Wow," I said suddenly, "It's five already,"

"Woah. I guess we spent the whole afternoon talking didn't we?" He grinned his lop sided smile and my heart practically stopped beating.

"Y-yeah," I stammered, laughing, "well, I should probably head out soon. It's getting dark, and I don't want to drive through this storm in the pitch black." He nodded.

"I understand," he smiled "…It was good seeing you Max," he said.

"It was good seeing you too," I grinned, "We should do this again,"I said, and hugged him lightly.

"Yeah," He said, hugging me back, and we held on for a bit longer than necessary, then broke apart and headed towards the door.

The next part seemed like it was happening in slow motion, as if I was in a movie, not my real life.

We walked to the door together, and he held it open as we both stepped through. The bell rang again, signaling us leaving, and seeing as I was in no longer in a rush, I looked up at it. Fang had apparently been looking at me, for when I looked up, he followed my line of sight too.

There, tied to the bell on the edge of the doorframe, was a sprig of mistletoe.

And we were standing it under it together.

"Well, uh," Fang began awkwardly. We may be out of college, but we were still pretty immature. This was super awkward for us, especially since we had both just regained each other's friendship and didn't want to lose it again.

"Yeah…" I said slowly, and he looked down at me, a small, devilish grin lighting his features.

"Well, wouldn't want to break tradition I guess," he stated, then cupped my face in his large hand and pressed his lips to mine.

It was heaven as his strong lips worked against my soft ones. It was everything I'd been missing in everyone else. Everything that they say is supposed to happen when you're kissed happened. Fireworks. I saw fireworks. Sparks. I felt a spark.

He was the one. I'd found what I'd been missing.

And now I knew for certain I needed him back.

All too soon it seemed, he pulled back, with a dazed expression on his face. He smiled his lopsided grin once again.

"Goodbye Max," he said softly, almost regretfully, and slipped something into my hand. I walked in a daze to my car and got inside. Then I looked down at what was in my hand.

It was a mix tape.

_Step 6: Lost_

The mix tape played in my stereo the whole way home, and just as I pulled into town the last song started. It was "I Miss You" by Blink-182.

I couldn't help the tears that welled up in my eyes as I drove through the snow covered streets of my town. I missed him.

I missed him more than he'd ever know.

It was around seven when I finally walked through the door of Nudge and my apartment. She and Iggy were sitting on the couch, cuddled against each other, eating pizza and watching some romance flick that Nudge had probably picked out. They both looked up as I walked in.

"Oh hey Max, how'd it g-" she stopped short as she saw the red around my eyes and the hastily dried tear tracks on my cheeks. She jumped up from her spot on the couch. "What happened!" I gave her a shaky smile.

"Nothing Nudge, I'm just being stupid. I'm just gonna go to my room, okay?" I said, already starting out of the living room. "You kids have fun!" I called over my shoulder, trying to seem happy and carfree, but inside, I ached.

I ached for Fang.

_Step 7: Back Again_

The mix tape played over and over in my stereo for the remainder of the night. I had the volume set to low, so as not to disturb Nudge's sleep. I had heard Iggy leave at one point, but I was too tired to get up and say good bye.

But no matter how tired I was, sleep just wouldn't come.

I got up around twelve AM for some food, because I'd skipped dinner. I found some Mac and Cheese in the pantry and began to boil some water, knowing that this was the single food that my atrocious cooking skills couldn't ruin.

I had just put the pasta in to cook and set the timer when there was a tentative knock at the door.

_Who could be here at this time of night? _I wondered to myself, checking through the peep hole to make sure it wasn't any sort of robber, serial killer, or rapist.

I was floored.

It was Fang.

I opened the door halfway and looked up at him. He was still dressed in what he had worn today, though it was crumpled, as if he had tried to sleep in it. He looked tired, but restless, as if he couldn't sleep even if he wanted to.

I realized I probably looked the same way, but I was dressed in my PJs. Wide awake, but half asleep.

"Max," he said quietly, his voice full of some emotion he couldn't displace and I couldn't place.

"Fang," I whispered, reaching out and placing a hand on his chest to ensure that he was really here in front of me, that this wasn't my tired mind playing tricks on me. He shut his eyes and leaned against the door frame. "How'd you find me?"

"Iggy," he said simply, then exhaled deeply and seemed to lean into my touch. "Max," he began again, "Now that you're back in my life…" I found myself unconsciously leaning towards him as he spoke.

"I don't think I can stay away,"

Then, he leaned down and pressed his lips lightly to mine.

The sparks were back, the tingling sensations lighting my body on fire. I couldn't see how I'd lived without this. It snapped everything into perspective. It showed me how wrong every other guy was for me.

And it proved to me how right Fang was. And just how stupid I was for running all this time.

I pulled back slowly, smiling sort of wildly at him.

"Hello to you too," I grinned, my smile nearly splitting my face in half. "Why don't you come inside?"

His lips quirked a little and I slid my hand from his chest to his hand, pulling him inside the apartment.

I dragged him with me back into the kitchen and reluctantly let go of his hand so I could gesture to the pot on the stove. "Food?"

He stared incredulously at the stove for a moment, then met my gaze. "…Since when can you cook?" I just huffed.

"I can cook macaroni and cheese at least, thank you very much," I pouted, moving to pour the noodles into the now burning water.

"Funny, I seem to remember you burning that back in high school too," He grinned somewhat cheekily and moved behind me, covering my hands with his own. "How 'bout you let me do it, just in case?"

I huffed again. "Fine, but some day I will prove to you that I have some form of cooking skills, however bad," he just looked at me skeptically.

"When that day comes, I'll be sure to have Iggy on speed dial," I stuck my tongue out at him and slipped out from under his grasp, opting instead to sit at the island to watch him prepare the mac and cheese.

Once the timer was set he came over to join me. I leaned against his side lightly.

"I'm sorry I ran. I was so dumb back in high school… and I was scared we'd lose what we had…" he laughed sort of bitterly at that.

"And look what we did anyway," he turned toward me, a faint smile on his perfect lips. "You're forgiven. You always have been, actually. I'd forgiven you from the start. So lon gas you promise me one thing…" I looked up to meet his ebony colored eyes.

"You won't go running again,"

And with that our lips met in a perfect kiss.

Which was immediately shattered by the timer going off on the stove.

Fang pecked me once more on the lips, then slid off the stool and went to finish preparing the food. When he had finished, I grabbed two bowls of it and took it into the living room, plopping myself on the couch and handing the other bowl to Fang, who snuggled up next to me. We ate in silence, only disrupted by the clacking of our silverware on the dishes, and relished in the feeling of being next to each other.

Soon enough we were done eating and our bowls were stacked on the coffee table in front of us, and we were still just sitting in the dark living room with the silence settled over us like a blanket.

I leaned a bit more into Fang. "I've really, really missed you," I sighed. "I'm glad you're back. I've really missed this."

"Missed what?" he looked over at me.

"Just… you, here with me… and stuff like this, just being together and whatever. We used to do this all the time. What happened?"

"You chickened out of a relationship is what happened," he laughed. I slapped him on the arm with an indignant 'hey!'. "No, really, all kidding aside, I don't know. Because really, I could have chased you if I'd wanted too. I should've, too. I just didn't want you to slip even further away. And I didn't really know quite what I was missing yet."

"Aww, that's sweet," I smiled at him. "Actually, neither did I." His face spread into one of the heart breaking-ly perfect smiles that come around once in a millennium.

Then, he shifted, turning so he was spread over me, covering the length of the couch with his arms on either side of my head, supporting his weight over me.

"And you know what? I'm not gonna let you slip by again. Max… will you be my girlfriend?"

I leaned up and pecked him on the lips. "That was like the cheesiest thing ever."

"What, my speech or the kiss? You taste like mac and cheese."

"Funny, so do you. The speech, you dork. Hmmm… I dunno…" Fang socked me lightly in the arm, then pecked me on the lips again.

"Sure,"

And his grin was so blinding, even in the dark, that I almost couldn't look. But I did, and it was beautiful.

And with that, I kissed him. And he kissed me back. And everything was perfect.

_Step 8: Forever_

We laid there like that til morning, having passed out sometime around 4 AM, only to be re awoken when Nudge came into the living room and stumbled blearily upon us. Her squeals were so loud that we both shot up, and I nearly knocked Fang's teeth out with my skull.

"Ouch," he frowned at me. I just patted his jaw lovingly and grinned.

"You'll be fine."

Nudge took one look at us and nearly exploded.

"So are you guys all couply and stuff now? Oh man, wait til I tell Iggy!" and with that, she dashed off to find the phone.

"I'm glad," Fang sighed, sinking into the couch.

"About what?" I looked inquisitively at him.

"That we're back to normal." I grinned.

"We're better than normal," I said, kissing him again.

"Yeah. And I'm happy."

"Me too."

And I was happy. I'd spent too long searching for something that should have been there from the start. I'd spent too long running away, from my feelings, from Fang, from everything.

But I wasn't running anymore.

I was staying forever.

13 pages done!

Please review and let me know what you think! :D


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